Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has inherited many problems but the biggest are a huge external debt burden and an economy that is besieged with burgeoning current account deficit, revenue deficit and fiscal deficit. A possible payment default stares it in the face while foreign exchange reserves have plummeted to a critically low $10.1 billion.

As reported by this paper, the government is likely to get more aggressive with its divestment programme. A number of IPOs are expected as early as next month, among them of three railways PSUs — Rail Vikas Nigam, Indian Railway Finance Corporation and Ircon International.

Over 3.48 crore people in Kerala continue to face the brunt of torrential rains and floods not seen in over a century that have wreaked havoc in all 13 districts over the last fortnight. A huge calamity has befallen Gods Own Country and life has come to a standstill.

The steep increase in crude oil prices and huge slide in rupee vis-à-vis the US dollar will serve a double whammy on India’s macro-economic fundamentals. A back of the envelope calculation suggests that India’s crude import bill may swell by a massive $30 billion this fiscal if the rupee continues to be stay at 70 and oil prices stabilise at $75 per barrel.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was largely responsible for building the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a pan-India political force, is easily the tallest non-Congress stalwart of modern times –- a great leader, statesman and a compassionate human being loved by his friends and adversaries.

As India celebrated its 72nd Independence Day, reports of a rupee slump below the 70-mark vis-à-vis the US dollar hit the wires. Several economists have tried to play down the rupee’s southward journey as being more psychological than one having a substantive impact on the Indian economy.

Since coming to power and delivering his first Independence Day speech from the Red Fort, prime minister Narendra Modi has made the event something to watch out for, either with the delineation of a vision statement or by announcing something important.

Despite all that capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has done over the years to increase transparency, the one troubling matter which it has not been able to successfully address is insider trading. Few can deny that insider trading is rampant in India.

For the first time, the Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO) tasted success in the well-publicised arrest of former managing director of Bhushan Steel, Neeraj Singhal for siphoning off Rs 2,000 crore through a web of 80 companies.